Carrara - part 3

Once again, this will be a pretty short posting. It was a really cool trip but there's not too much to say about it. Just pretty pictures.


It's hard to tell from the picture, but there was a long drop down from the roads we were on. The bus was whipping around pretty quickly and there are no guard rails. I was feeling pretty sick.


As we approached Carrara's quarries we could see a series of bridges leading from the roads into the mountain. We would enter into one such opening. They took us into the mountain in four van loads. I can't imagine those vans last very long. They drove pretty quickly over really bumpy roads.


The first order of business was for all of us to put matching helmets on. If the mountain collapsed on top of us, these plastic helmets would save us.


It was pretty dark in there but we could see tunnels leading off in different directions. It kind of looked like the Rebel Alliance base on Hoth. If you don't know The Empire Strikes Back well enough, I'm not going to take the time to explain, sir.


It was kind of eerie in there with the odd lighting and caves to who knows where, but with our trusty yellow helmets we weren't afraid of anything.


They got the huge slabs of marble away from the walls by drilling a small space above (as seen in the picture above) and then drilling down the back of the new slab. I thing they said they used explosives too. It was hard to hear in there. I also think that our guide said that they work in fairly small teams because the noise can get so loud in there.


One of the ominous caves. Gollum lives in there.


Our tour guide was so tough that she didn't need a helmet. Here she is seen rapping or something.


A light in the tunnel up ahead. Could be civilization. Could be another lamp. We all took pictures just in case.


Here are some of the vicious cave creatures that Sarah warned me about. Never fear! I was wearing a yellow helmet.


Then our van came back and escorted us back out into the real world. We were made to return our helmets. Apparently they weren't souvenirs. After our trip into the mountain an old Italian man told us all about the recent history (last century or so) of the quarries. John translated some of it but I think he got bored because he wandered off. Luckily Clark was there to fill in. Then it was back on the treacherous road back down the mountain. Our bus driver barely, but ably, managed to maneuver through some twisty small town roads. At one point both sides of the bus were nearly scraping into buildings on either side. Excitement! Then I almost got sick on the ride home again. The end.